Wikileaks Does Egypt

Last week I made clear I have reservations about the whole Wikileaks enterprise, but also criticized the notion that once documents have been published, one should somehow ignore them as the US is urging government employees to do. The last couple of days' releases have started to include a number related to the Egyptian succession, a subject of continuing interest on this blog. Most are cables from the Ambassadorships of Francis Ricciardone (2005-2008) and Margaret Scobey (2008-present). Among some of interest:

• A 2009 profile of Mubarak senior;
  

• Ricciardone on Gamal in 2006;

• A 2010 discussion of succession;

• A 2007 comparison of the Sadat succession with the present situation.

• A 2008 Ricciardone conversation with Mubarak which includes the following characterization of Gamal:

Mubarak also offered insights into the character of his younger son, Gamal, whom he described as a perfectionist from childhood. "As a schoolboy, if I gave him a notebook with one line that was not straight, he would throw a fit and demand a new one," Mubarak laughed. Furthermore, Gamal is "idealistic" and "punctual." Mubarak added, "If he (Gamal) says, 'meet me for lunch at 2:00,' he means 2:00. Set your watch by it."

I think that these cables bear out what I've said previously: classified or not, there's not much new here for those who've been discussing this stuff for years, though the personal anecdote is both a nice touch and makes Gamal seem a bit strange. The potential successors, the personalities involved, etc. are all pretty well known. But it's interesting to see it in an official document, of course.